Episode 10: Rauli Virtanen Was The First Person To Visit Every Country In 1988
Rauli Virtanen of Finland with Muhammad Ali
No one else has a “traveler” story quite like Rauli Virtanen.
While reluctant to claim the title of “the first person to visit every country”, Rauli says that no one has challenged the assertion since NomadMania began proclaiming him as the first person to ever visit every country in the world.
The organization says that many who had previous claims incorrectly counted visits to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that sits between North Korea and South Korea as having visited North Korea.
What is undisputed is that Rauli is one of the few to have visited almost all of the countries for work – as a foreign correspondent, specifically.
In Rauli’s comprehensive interview, you’ll hear about…
His fascinating career that has led him to high-profile interviews with Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, Pelé, and Kofi Annan, amongst others
How he has been on the ground, reporting, at almost every major world conflict over the last 50 years, including the Angolan Civil War, Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge, Lebanon, Romanian Revolution, Tiananmen Square in China, and Afghanistan with the Taliban, amongst others
Why Mongolia, Ecuador, and Oman were some of the mores surprising countries he visited
How and why he took his kids on different types of “vacations” as they were growing up
How Finland is teaching their youth to decipher real and fake news
What he carries with him, emotionally, from covering conflicts for over 50 years…
Listen on all your favorite apps – including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and more – or in video format below on YouTube or Podbean. (Although, Rauli’s pictures from covering the world as a journalist are so incredible, video format is recommended!)👇